Madison Bumgarner
Madison Bumgarner (born August 1, 1989) is an American baseball pitcher with the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Bumgarner is listed 6'5" (1.93m) and 225 pounds (97 kg) and has a 90–95 MPH fastball. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 1st round (10th overall) in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. edit Career edit High school Bumgarner was drafted from South Caldwell High School in Hudson, North Carolina where he led his team to a 4A State Championship in 2007. He committed to play for the University of North Carolina but decided to enter the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Bumgarner was selected tenth overall by the Giants. Going into the draft, Baseball America had ranked him as the fourteenth best prospect overall. He was the first high school pitcher to be selected by the Giants with their first pick since Matt Cain in 2002, the first left-handed pitcher selected in the first round by the organization since Noah Lowry in 2001, the first left-handed pitcher taken as the first pick by the organization since Mike Remlinger in 1987, and the first high-school left-hander the Giants drafted in the first round since Frank Riccelli in 1971. edit Minor Leagues In 2008, Baseball America ranked him the third best prospect in the Giants organization. Bumgarner pitched for the Augusta Greenjackets, the Giants' Low-A minor league affiliate, in 2008. He began the 2009 season with the Giants' high-A affiliate, the San Jose Giants, then was called up to the Giants AA affiliate the Connecticut Defenders. Bumgarner has played with other top Giants' prospects Buster Posey, Angel Villalona, and Nick Noonan. Before the start of the 2009 season, Baseball America ranked Bumgarner as the 9th best prospect in baseball.[citation needed] Before the start of the 2010 season, Baseball America ranked Bumgarner as the 14th best prospect in baseball.[citation needed] edit Major Leagues He was called up to the majors on September 8, 2009, to make his first major league start and debut for Tim Lincecum who was scratched with back spasms. At the age of 20, he became the second youngest pitcher ever to start a game for the Giants since the franchise moved west in 1958, older only than Mike McCormick, who made his debut for San Francisco as a 19-year-old when the team was still the New York Giants.[1][2] Bumgarner made four appearances with the Giants in 2009, accruing an ERA of 1.80 and ten strikeouts, pitching ten innings without recording a decision. ;2010 Bumgarner attended Giants' spring training before the 2010 season, competing for the position of fifth starter, but was sent down to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies due to a drop in his velocity.[3] On June 26, 2010, Bumgarner was called up again to join the club, facing the Boston Red Sox the next day.[4] On July 6, 2010, against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, Bumgarner earned his first major league victory, 6–1, going eight innings without yielding a run.[5] In five September starts during the Giants' successful run to the National League West Division championship, Bumgarner posted an ERA of 1.13.[6] At the end of the wonderful September, Bumgarner earned his first win at home, making him 7–6 on the season. Despite a ten-day layoff, Bumgarner became the youngest pitcher in Giants franchise history to pitch in and win a postseason game, which he did against the Braves in the NLDS clinching-game on October 11, 2010.[6][7] In addition to his clinching performance in the NLDS, he pitched two shutout innings in relief in the NLCS clinching game versus the Philadelphia Phillies.[8] On October 31, 2010, Bumgarner pitched 8 shutout innings in Game 4 of the 2010 World Series, becoming the fourth youngest pitcher to start and win a World Series game. This win gave the Giants a 3–1 lead in the series, en route to the Giants winning their first World Series championship in 56 years.[9] He was named a starting pitcher on Baseball America's 2010 All-Rookie Team.[10] edit 2011 In spring training in 2011, Bumgarner led the major leagues in strikeouts, with 31 in 27.1 innings.[11] As of May 13, 2011 Bumgarner was 0–5 with a 4.58 ERA in 7 starts. Madison struggled in his first two games beginning the 2011 season, but soon after regained his post-season form. However, he was the victim of poor run support and bad luck, a treatment the San Francisco media called his "Caining," a reference to teammate Matt Cain's often dominant performances that featured little to no run support as well.[12] Despite pitching at least six innings and giving up more than one earned run only once in his five starts from April 27 through May 19 it wasn't until the 19th that he got his first win, collecting an ERA of 3.71 for the season at that point. As of June 9, Bumgarner had a 1.93 ERA over his last nine starts, yet had two wins and five losses to show for it. In 7 of his 8 losses at that point the Giants either only scored once or scored no times at all. edit Family Bumgarner married Ali Saunders (his high school sweetheart) on February 14, 2010, and lives on a farm in North Carolina.[13][14] edit Records *Youngest left-handed pitcher to throw 8 scoreless innings in a World Series Start at 21 years and 91 days[15] * Youngest starting pitcher to hit 2 grand slams in his career